NOVACAP Invests in Firmex to Accelerate Growth

Posted on July 26, 2016

Toronto, July 26, 2016 – NOVACAP, one of Canada’s leading private equity firms, today announced that it has made a strategic investment in Firmex, the fastest growing provider of virtual data rooms and platform for secure document sharing. The transaction is being financed through the NOVACAP TMT IV Fund, which specializes in partnering with exceptional companies that have high growth potential in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors. NOVACAP will work with Firmex to continue to expand the company’s product offerings and accelerate its growth, both organically and through acquisitions. Joel Lessem, who co-founded the company in 2006, will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer and, along with existing management, own a significant interest in the company.

Based in Toronto, Canada, Firmex is a leader in the global virtual data room marketplace. Firmex offers a robust SaaS (Software as a Service) platform, relentless focus on providing superior, personalized customer service and competitive pricing, all of which provide a unique value proposition for its customers. The company’s growing user base and easy-to-use solution have fueled viral adoption among new virtual data room customers. Each year, more than 10,000 Firmex data rooms are created to share large volumes of confidential documents for a variety of mission critical diligence and compliance processes across a range of industries. More than 100,000 companies across 60 countries worldwide – including renowned global financial and legal intermediaries, investment firms and corporations – have trusted Firmex as their virtual data room provider.

“NOVACAP is excited to partner with Joel and the entire Firmex team, and we look forward to continuing to invest in its people, product and brand in order to help the company find new market opportunities both domestically and abroad,” said Yong Kwon, Partner at NOVACAP. “Over the last decade, Firmex has demonstrated the quality of its platform and service offering, having grown tremendously and consistently exhibiting impressively high retention rates from its large and diverse customer base. We believe strongly in the future growth prospects of Firmex and look forward to helping them drive further successes in this next phase of their growth trajectory.”

“Our vision is to continue growing with our loyal customers and winning new customers by expanding and enhancing our product and service offering”, added Firmex’s Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Joel Lessem. “We see tremendous growth opportunities in the market for our company. We selected NOVACAP as our partner because of their strong operational expertise and their conviction in our plan and potential. We couldn’t be more excited about the future for Firmex.”

About NOVACAP

With assets under management of over $1.6 billion, NOVACAP has consistently been recognized as one of the leading private equity firms in Canada since 1981. Its unique collaborative approach with entrepreneurs, based on deep operational expertise and active management of its investment, has helped accelerate growth and maximize value of more than 85 companies across North America. NOVACAP’s culture is based on creating long-term value through an investment philosophy focused on discipline and growth. With an experienced management team and substantial financial resources, NOVACAP is well positioned to continue building world-class companies. For more information, please visit www.novacap.ca.

About Firmex Inc.

Firmex is a global provider of virtual data rooms based in Toronto, Canada. Since 2006, the company has helped to drive the virtual data room marketplace with its SaaS secure document sharing platform. More than 100,000 companies worldwide – including financial and legal intermediaries, investment firms and corporations – have trusted Firmex as their virtual data room provider. Each year, millions of documents are exchanged using the Firmex platform, supporting processes that include financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, litigation, and procurement. For more information, go to www.firmex.com.